Domesticated
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: They were his home, and he wouldn't have traded them in for all the adventures in the world. Hal x Lourdes


_Domesticated_

_A Hal & Lourdes Story_

_By Brown Eyes Parker_

**Disclaimer:**

**I don't own anything at all. If I did, I think that Hal/Lourdes would be canon by now.**

**Author's Note I:**

**Once upon a time, I shipped Hal/Lourdes and then for some reason I stopped. Last night's episode brought me right back to where I started. I'm not in too deeply yet, but who knows what'll happen in season 4? Especially if my OTP happens in this season, I might be shipping them full force. In the meantime, I wanted to write a story about them because there is a shocking lack of stories about them on FFN. Just a note, this is my first time writing "Hades" fan fiction, my characterization of them might be a lot off and there isn't any rhyme or reason to this story either. **

_**Dedicated to my little sister, Hannah, the **_**real**_** Lourdes & Hal shipper in the family.**_

**.**

It was all over.

The aliens were finally gone, leaving an eerie sense of calm in their wake. It was peaceful again, quiet. Just like it used to be when Hal was a little boy. Some days it felt like an alien invasion had _never_ happened at all, it was almost like he had dreamed it.

Maggie was gone too; she had left with Pope to travel the world after the final battle with the aliens had ended. She hadn't wanted to be domesticated anymore than he had wanted to be a nomad for the rest of his life. There hadn't been any soulful looks or passionate kisses. Their even hadn't been any final attempts to try and persuade the other person to stay or go with them. They'd just wished each other good luck, ending on amiable terms.

Everything was finally returning to normal, he and his family (along with Anne, Lexie, Lourdes and a dozen other people from Second Mass) were starting to find some semblance of a life that _didn't_ include living in warfare or trying to get by day by day.

It was peaceful, and God knew they needed peaceful after everything they had been through the past three years.

The front door to his house flew open, breaking Hal out of his musings. Lourdes stepped out into the cold winter's night, smelling like peppermint, and decked out in a little black dress with sheer black panty hose. A Beatles song was coming from the living room, and the white lights from the Christmas tree in the window created a halo around her head.

Not for the first time, his breath caught in his throat and he couldn't find the words to even greet her.

"You're finally home!" She said, smiling at him. "Tom and Anne were waiting for you to start dinner."

"They didn't have to do that," he finally managed.

"It's New Year's Eve, silly. Why _wouldn't_ we wait for you?" Lourdes answered as she pulled him into the house and helped him out of his coat.

Hal shrugged. "I told them when I came home for lunch that I was going to be a while, Weaver was particularly moody today."

She took his arm. "Oh well. Come on, everybody's in the dining room waiting for you."

Later that night, they watched _Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve_ as a family. They gorged themselves on junk food, and made silly New Year's resolutions. And when the ball dropped, while Anne and Tom were busy kissing each other and Matt was spinning Lexi around the room, Hal kissed Lourdes for the first time.

After a beat, Lourdes pulled away blushing. "Oh Hal. . ." she whispered.

"Happy New Year," he whispered back, not giving her a chance to say anything and ruin the moment between them.

"Happy New Year," she answered, slipping out of his grasp and putting some distance between them.

Hal sighed as she disappeared from the room. He would have given anything to hold her in his arms again, even for a second.

"Don't worry man," Ben said in a low voice as he sidled up beside his older brother. "She likes you too."

Hal could only hope that Ben was right.

**.**

_One Month Later_

"So, you and Hal. . ." Anne started, trying to broach the subject carefully.

Lourdes gave Anne a look. "It was just a New Year's kiss," she answered quickly.

"Really?" Anne said. "I see the way that he looks at you Lourdes. That was _not _'just' a New Year's kiss. That was the real deal, sweetie."

"But why now?" Lourdes asked quietly as she tied a red ribbon around a Valentine's day card she was making for Matt. "He never liked me before; he was always interested in girls like Karen and Maggie. Maybe he's just settling for me because they're both gone—"

"Or maybe he's finally realizing a good thing when he sees it," Annie said optimistically. "Things changed after Lexi and I came back, I saw the way he looked around you. The way he acted."

"I thought it was just because he knew what I was going through. . . because he felt bad for me," Lourdes said. "Because nobody else could stand to be around me after what I had done. . ."

"Maybe you should talk to him," Anne suggested as she put the finishing touches on a card she was making for Tom. "That's the only way that you'll ever know what he's _really_ thinking. It's better than wondering. . . it's better than the two of you being miserable around each other."

Lourdes hesitated for a second and then she nodded. "Maybe you're right. The worst that can happen is that the kiss was just because it was the New Year."

"It's worth finding out," Anne replied, smiling at her encouragingly.

**.**

"Lourdes!" Hal said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

She held up a brown paper bag. "You forgot your lunch."

"Still looking out for me even after all these years," Hal replied with a smile.

Lourdes blushed and shifted from one foot to the other, trying to think of what to say next. And then she sighed. "Well, I guess I better go."

"Don't you need to eat lunch too?" Hal asked.

"Well yes, but—"

"Why don't you just sit with me for a little bit?" Hal interjected. "I would love the company."

Lourdes hesitated for a second and then nodded. "Okay, but only for a little bit."

Hal patted the spot on the ground next to him. She sat down, watching quietly while he ate his turkey sandwich.

"Hal!" She said after a long minute, a surge of courage washing over her in one great swoop.

"Yes Lourdes?" Hal asked, putting his lunch down and looking at her intently.

"That kiss. . . on New Year's, did you mean it?"

"Yes," he replied without a moment's delay. "I meant it, and I'm not sorry that it happened. I would give _anything_ to do it again."

"But I don't understand. . . I'm not Karen and I'm not Maggie. And I was okay with that, I had accepted that you could never see me as anything more than a friend. I was okay without you, I had moved on. Why did you have to go and make me fall in love with you again?"

She had said the last part so low that Hal almost thought he had imagined it.

"Hey," he whispered, taking her chin in his hands and making her look him in the eyes. "I think I'm going to kiss you."

"Okay," she agreed quietly.

Their second kiss was even better than their first.

**.**

"Hey Hal, how's the domestic life treating you?"

"Maggie!" Hal said in surprise. "I didn't think I was ever going to hear from you again."

"Well, there's an actual working pay phone here. So, I decided to call and see how you're doing. Do you regret staying with your family and doing the whole domestic thing?"

"Nope," Hal replied, his mind wondering to Lourdes and the way she smelled like summer and the way she always seemed to taste like cotton candy and lemonade when he kissed her.

"Have you found somebody new?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," Hal answered honestly.

"Lourdes?"

"Yeah."

"I'm happy for you," Maggie said quietly, a hint of wistfulness in her voice. "Sometimes I thought in the back of my mind that it was only a matter of time before you got together with her. She's the kind of girl you settle down and make a family with, create a life with. You better treat her good, she deserves it."

Hal smiled. "I know."

"Pope is signaling that he's ready to go," Maggie told him. "I wish you and Lourdes all the best, Hal. Have a good life."

"You too," Hal agreed, watching Lourdes push Lexi on the swing in the backyard while Matt talked to her. "Goodbye Maggie."

"Goodbye Hal," she replied.

Hal listened to the dial tone for a second, contemplating Maggie and their relationship for a moment. And then he went outside to be with his siblings and Lourdes in the early spring sunshine.

They were his home, and he wouldn't have traded them in for all the adventures in the world.

**_The End_**

**Author's Note:**

**I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about this piece. Tell me what you think in a review below. Thanks in advance.**

**Holly, 8/7/2013_**


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